MacDill tankers keep Red Flag mission airborne

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner
  • Red Flag Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  Everyone plays their part. Whether it be an airman basic, fresh at their new assignment at the logistics readiness squadron, or the full-bird colonel commanding a wing; everyone plays their part to ensure Airmen can fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace. It's how battles are fought and wars are won.

The 91st Air Refueling Squadron from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., is no exception. Currently the unit is playing their part to ensure the mission stays in the air at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

Flying multiple sorties per day, the crews will push more than 1.4 million pounds of fuel over a two-week period during Red Flag 10-1.

"Our unit will refuel hundreds of aircraft while we're here," said Capt. Mike Fulton, 91st ARS KC-135 pilot. "We fly three sorties per day and push approximately 4,000 pounds to each aircraft. That really adds up."

While the crew works to keep the exercise flying, they also benefit from the training opportunities provided by rapid operations tempo and large-scale integration.

"The amount of receivers we get all at once is something we don't get to do on a regular basis," said Staff Sgt. John Brooks, 91st ARS boom operator. "When we're deployed, we'll only get one or two aircraft here and there. But here, since the sorties are so short, we're really busy."

It's not just American planes knocking at the backdoor of the KC-135s. The crews regularly find themselves refueling coalition partners' aircraft as well.

"The only difference to us is the paperwork," said Captain Fulton. "Where we work, it doesn't matter what country they're from. We're all on the same team."

A Dutch pilot who goes by "Sleepy" agreed.

"We work with [U.S. Air Forces in Europe] assets regularly, so this is another opportunity to better our operational relationships with our allies," he said. "Some of these guys might be the same ones who refueled me in Afghanistan."

Though refueling with American tankers is routine to the Dutch pilot, Sleepy still lauds what they bring to the table for training.

"Tankers allow us to get people off the ground earlier and keep them in the air longer," he said. "It gives us a longer on-station time to protect those bombing targets, and also allows the (target) bombers to swing from an air-to-ground to an air-to-air role."